Premature babies are at greater risk for myriad health complications than babies delivered at full-term, and one of the most common causes of death is infection, says Wally Carlo, M.D., director of the UAB Division of Neonatology. Carlo is co-author of the report on the Heart Rate Observation System (HeRO), a technology used to assess high-risk infants.

“Using the Heart Rate Observation System, we were able to analyze multiple variables of the heart rate and calculate an index that estimates the risk of developing infection — before the infants show clinical manifestations,” Carlo says.

“HeRO is the first non-invasive technique for early detection of infection in such a high-risk population. It is a novel technology that gives real-time results instead of waiting on blood tests at a critical time,” Carlo says.

UAB Hospital was one of eight hospitals in the United States in which the system was studied in a randomized, controlled trial that included more than 3,000 patients treated from April 2004 to September 2010.

Smita Bhatia, M.D., M.P.H., director of UAB's new Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship, explains how cancer treatments can lead to chronic health conditions in later life — and how "survivorship clinics" will help.

Naloxone kits have prevented more than 10,000 deaths from opioid overdose since local distribution programs began in 1996. Now, as deaths from opioid overdose reach an all-time high in the United States, a crowdfunded project from UAB researchers aims to put naloxone in the hands of those at highest risk.

About half of American hospitals have some form of arts programming, usually art or music therapy. Now a growing number of medical centers — UAB Hospital is the first in Alabama — are implementing the more comprehensive AIM model.